Yep, been there. Three kiddos later and I still would say there are things I can improve on, but with each kid came a lot of useful tips and tricks, all of which I am gifting to you!

Many parents are all about formal methods, like the Ferber method, or the Weissbluth method, when sleep training their littles. My approach is a bit different. Instead of focusing on one method, I like to focus on tweaking the details of all of them. Find what works, change what doesn’t. That’s it!

Deb to the rescue! Someone make me a cape or something.

I’ve done the time, worn all the coverup one face can take, and have found the best sleep training methods I used for my babies that you can now use for yours, minus all the pain and suffering.

Okay, that’s not totally true. There will still be some sleepless nights in your future, and probably some tears, too. But rest assured, you will have far less sleepless nights than I ever did. (Now who’s envious of who!)

Forget a mobile. Two out of three of my kids actually were scared of the mobile. Or maybe it was the way I danced around their nurseries as if I was a fairy when the music played. Now that’s a scary thought. Hopefully no long-term damage was done.

Who am I kidding. They’re fine. And don’t pretend you didn’t get a little bit crazier once you became a parent. It happens to us all.

Anyway, I saw a huge difference with my third child after I put a star projector in her room. Sleep training was so easy after that! The way she stared at the stars on her nursery ceiling was mind-blowing. I could leave her in her crib and she’d put herself to sleep without any crying.

So how did I choose one? Well, I wasn’t about to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on the best of the best star projectors. Yes, there are star projectors out there that cost thousands of dollars. It depicts star constellations just like the night sky, shooting stars and all.

But someone once told me, “If you’re story has a bad ending, then it’s not the end.” I’m pretty sure that was from a fictional, fairytale movie on Netflix, but it can apply here too, right?

If there is one thing I learned after going through not one, not two, but three newborn stages with three different babies, it’s how to successfully soothe a newborn baby.

Want to stop that crying and reclaim your sanity? I feel your pain. And that’s exactly why I’ve given you all the tips right here, so you don’t have to do it three times to figure it out on your own.

Why? Because the world can always use one more sane parent.

Oh, and one more thing, I know you don’t have all the time in the world to sit here and read a list of 30 things you could try. So, I’m going to make it easy on you and give you seven of the tops ways to soothe your sweet, noisy baby.

What is better than having your beautiful little family together at dinner every night? Having your beautiful little family wanting to be together for dinner every night.

“Deb, get real.”

Hold it right there, momma. I get it. If you would have told me three months ago that this was possible, I would have said the same thing. But give me a chance to explain.

What do kids want? Fun. We all know that. And while you can’t make every moment of every day fun, that just means you have to find some prime time throughout the day to integrate more fun in the simplest of ways.

So I chose dinner time. I created fun dinner time with my new educational placemats! But here’s the kicker. The kids have no idea they are educational, so it’s a total win-win.

Okay, I know what you may be thinking, “Won’t that take away from the togetherness of dinner time?”

Yes, at first, it did. You’re right. The kids would play mostly, and take short breaks to throw a bit of food in their mouths. That didn’t leave much time for family.

But that is exactly why I’m going to save you the trouble of going about using these placemats the wrong way. I did it and I’m here to save you.

DEB HOCKENBERRY

Career woman gone mommy. I think that’s how most people would describe me these days. And, you know what? I’m totally cool with that.Why? I have three reasons: Tessa, Bryan, and Katie–the three little loves of my life.When I first found out I was pregnant with Tessa, I had a cushy corporate job in downtown San Diego. I had it pretty good with a nice paycheck, a great assistant, and an office with a window. And I deserved it, too. I worked hard and I loved what I did.